Brazil's Forgotten Samba Stars: The Best Players to Not Wear the Shirt

Following their shocking penalty shootout defeat to Paraguay, Brazil will head home embarrassed and knowing that their tournament, deemed a time for young players to gain valuable playing experience, was still ultimately a failure.

Going into the competition as favorites to defend their title and win the tournament for the third straight time, the so called "Samba Boys" failed to impress in their opening fixtures, and though they looked back to their winning ways in a 4-2 defeat of Ecuador, they could not find a way through a tough Paraguayan defence and proved absolutely horrendous in missing four consecutive penalties.

Coach Mano Menezes, who said that Brazil are on the right track despite failure, has to open his eyes to the fact that his team are not on the right track at all. His team selection and more notably some of his exclusions, were highly questionable, and the manager has a very long way to go before his country hosts the World Cup in 2014.

Now, in a new series of articles, I will take a look at the Brazilian players who have not played for the country and deserve a proper run out with the team.

To qualify, the player has to have never been called up to Brazil, not played a major role for the squad (players like Marcelo, Hulk, Hernanes, etc.), be a young player who could have a promising future with the team, or an older player who deserved a call up some time during their career.

In each article I will profile one player, focusing on why a player deserves a call up, and if applicable, what they would offer to the Brazilian squad.

I hope you stay tuned for the next edition, and feel free to leave any players you recommend in the comments below!

Other Articles in this Series: 

Pt. 1 - Fernando Reges